Sudan opposition nominates economist for Prime Minister

On Thursday, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) agreed to nominate veteran economic expert Dr Abdallah Hamdouk as Prime Minister during the coming three-year transitional period.

Abdelgadir Mohamed Ahmed was nominated as Chief Justice, and Mohamed El Hafiz was nominated for the position of Attorney-General.

The FFC Leadership Council discussed the nominations for the Cabinet ministers on Thursday. The FFC’s special committee for nominations for government posts proposed three persons for each ministerial post. “The new Prime Minister will then select whoever he deems appropriate for the function,” the Sudanese Congress Party said on its Facebook page.

Dr Hamdouk has held positions at the International Labour Organization and the African Development Bank. His most recent function was Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. In September last year, he turned down an offer by now deposed President Omar Al Bashir to become Minister of Finance.

According to the schedule agreed on by the FFC and the Transitional Military Council (TMC), the members of the new Cabinet will be announced on August 28. The name of the Prime Minister will be disclosed on August 20. The names of the 11 members of the Sovereign Council will be published on Sunday.

Public participation

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) has demanded that the names of the nominees should be presented to the public before being submitted for approval.

In a statement on Thursday, the DBA said it will hand a letter to the FFC Higher Coordination Committee, demanding disclosure of its members to the public and the criteria used for the selection of the nominees.

In case the committee does not respond to the request, the Darfur lawyers “will lodge an official complaint at a competent court”.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, the driving forces after the uprising and leading member of the FFC, confirmed in a press statement on Thursday its monitoring role during Sudan’s “transition to full democracy”.